The Stadium Club in Joliet, Illinois. | City of Joliet
The Stadium Club in Joliet, Illinois. | City of Joliet
The fate of Joliet’s Stadium Club building remains uncertain after it sustained damage from a heavy rain storm late last month.
“We need to determine is this building salvageable or is it a demo?” Interim City Manager Steve Jones told Joliet Patch. “We don't know the answer at this point.”
The city-owned Stadium Club was one of many properties damaged in Joliet during the May 23 storm system consisting of winds up to 95 mph with many believing there was a tornado, according to The Herald-News.
“The wind came from all four directions in a two-minute period,” Mayor Bob O’Dekirk told The Herald-News. “It was blowing west to east and then reversed, and then it was coming from...the north and then from the south.”
Joliet Patch reports the high winds ripped off the roof and part of the walls of the Stadium Club building, which is located next to the DuPage Medical Group Field. Prior to the storm, the city had recently been in discussions with prospective buyers interested in redeveloping the property into a mixed used development with apartments and retail space.
“The future of that is probably not very bright,” Mayor Bob O’Dekirk told Joliet Patch.
The Stadium Club building was almost sold two years ago but its prospective buyer Jeff Thompson, an insurance agent and an active member of Joliet Chamber of Commerce, died of a heart attack. Now it may not be feasible to attract a buyer since the city might not be able to repair the damages due to financial strains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Joliet Patch.
“I've been told that internally the damage was pretty significant,” O’Dekirk told Joliet Patch. “If someone wanted to save it, I'm sure we as a city would listen, but I don't know how possible that is.”
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